Fate-frozen twilight
by JoJones451
Summary: He has been preparing for this battle all his life. A battle for one of the most prized objects according to a Magus: The Holy Grail. A chance to reach the Root. But he doesn't want that. What he wants, is to finish one of his father's last acts as a magus, but more importantly, he wants to save his friends and family. This is a story of a different Fifth Holy Grail War.
1. The Summoning

He poured over his father's will, reading the notes on making sure that the magic circle was intact and ready to be used. The boxes in the storehouse were all moved out of the way, creating space for the circle he would use within a day's time.

Lowering the instructions left to him half a decade previously, the boy frowns, contemplating what he would have to do in the following weeks. He unconsciously scratches his back, where his family's magic crest was carved into him. He stands, concern etched across his face, as he prepared himself for the greatest trial he would face, and being able to fulfill his father's dream.

* * *

[Day One/Thursday, January 29]

The hill was barren, scarred with the results with countless battles. The sky above was blue, but turning into an orange as the sun set. All across the hill, swords were stuck into the ground, their hilts pointing towards the sky, and in the center of that hill was him. He wasn't sure why, but he felt at peace in this strange, strange world of his dream. The sky was a clear blue, and made him feel at ease.

But alas, all things come to an end. The sky grew dark, as ash and soot filled the air. Great, giant gears began to appear in the sky, as the light of the sun disappeared behind the ash. He had lost the peaceful feeling of the blue skies, and calm winds to the gears, and fire, and dust. This world was not one that he was comfortable in. He started to run, started trying to escape the dream, the nightmare as a man began to follow him.

Eventually, he reached the end of the world of his dream. His back to the wall, as the faceless man summoned two swords which he couldn't identify, and charged. The man cut at him, killing him as he said something unintelligible.

Shirou Emiya awoke from the dream, staring into the sapphire eyes and jet black hair of Rin Tohsaka. She blinked, before smirking as he rubbed fatigue out of his eyes.

"Oh, so you're finally awake, are you? I thought that you had died in your sleep," she says mockingly.

"Ha ha. Real funny," Shirou yawns. It was only 6:30, but he was tired. So tired. Why hadn't he started moving those boxes out of the way earlier?

"Come on, Shirou. You can't let Matou-chan do all the work for breakfast, now can you?"

Shirou narrowed his eyes, before sighing. "Oh no! She's guilt tripping me! What do I do?"

The look on Rin's face was priceless. The snarl forcibly hidden behind the smile as she said "Oh my, you're so funny Shirou. How will I be able to cope with your sense of humor?"

He just shrugged before looking at his hand. The markings on the back were even more pronounced than before. The bruise that had once been there, on and off for months had become multiple solid red lines on the back of his hand.

"By tonight, it'll be time," he said staring at the Command Seals now evident on his hand.

Rin's face now becomes serious. "We will win this, Shirou. Me, for my sister, and you for yours."

She didn't feel that she had to mention the rest of the world. Just those words were enough.

* * *

He sat on the rooftop of his school, a scarf wrapped around his neck to keep the cold out. He slowly ate the rice in his lunch, as he listened to Rin speak.

"The fake priest told me earlier that the only classes left are Archer and Saber," she had said moments earlier. "I might be able to summon Saber tonight, when my Prana levels are at their peak, but you told me that you have a Catalyst for Saber, so I'm going to have to hope for the best for when I summon my servant."

Shirou nods, chewing his lunch. "The catalyst I have will work. I'll be going to the church tomorrow to formally register as a master, after I show my servant around town."

Rin just nods as she drinks her coffee. It was bitterly cold that day, despite Fuyuki being a coastal town. The red haired magus closes his bento, and wraps it up. He looks over at Rin, and stands up.

"I'll be at school tomorrow, too," he starts to say, "because knowing you, you'll use up almost all of your Prana trying to summon an amazing servant. I'll meet up with you at the park tomorrow after school, okay?"

She nods, a confident smile the primary emotion visible on her face. He knew her well enough, however, that he could tell she was hiding her fear. They start to discuss more mundane things as the leave the roof, like upcoming tests and the such, but despite this, there was no escaping the lingering thoughts of "What if we fail?"

* * *

He knew that he should be walking home this late. It would have been fine any other year, but this was the year of the Fifth Holy Grail War. It wouldn't be safe for anyone who was a magus to be out this late for two weeks. But archery practice had run late, and here he was, returning home when it was dark out. At most, Shirou could hope to be able to escape an enemy master provided that they attack by tracing and firing off twenty swords then escape while they're distracted.

He pulled his scarf up, and shoved his hands into his pockets as the air became saturated with Mana. It was the tell-tale sign of a magus with huge power capabilities, or at the least a familiar of some sort that used large amounts of Prana. His answer was provided as he saw a girl leaning on the guard rail. A girl, with hair as white as snow, and eyes that are as red as rubies. She smiles as she pushes herself off of the guard rail, her violet jacket swaying in the wind.

She walks towards Shirou, as he continues towards her, before she says "You're going to die if you don't summon yours soon, Mister."

He stops, and replies "Don't worry. I'll be ready, Big Sis."

He can hear her feet stop, and turn, but he has already disappeared, out of her field of view. He had said that he'd be ready for her, so wasting time hanging around in the street wasn't going to solve anything.

* * *

He stands at the front door, waiting for Fuji-nee and Sakura to leave, before he turns around, and walks back into his house. He makes his way through to his backyard and into the storehouse. He pushes open the door, and makes sure that everything is still where he left it, before closing the door with a creaking sound.

Everything was ready. He moved over to the summoning circle, as the clock in the storehouse struck nine o'clock. He lifted up his left hand over the circle, and began to speak.

"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill. Repeat five times. But, when each is filled, destroy it. Set."

The room was glowing with the magic circle on the ground, one made of silver that he had acquired over time.

"Heed my words," Shirou continued to say. "My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you hear the Grail's call and obey my reason, then answer me."

Wind was blowing in a funnel shape around the magic circle, pushing and pulling at his jacket. The light level in the room was intense, as it radiated in waves from the magic circle that he had spent hours perfectly crafting.

"I hereby swear. I will be all that is good in the eternal world. I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world. You seven heavens, clad in three great words of power, come forth from the circle of binding, guardian of the scales!" he yells, as he is blinded by the amount of light present in the room. The wind blew madly, before the light and wind dissipated, leaving only a girl with blonde hair, and emerald eyes in the circle, her steel armour appearing silver.

She appeared beautifully regal as she stood, her sword in her hands. She looked at Shirou, before she spoke, asking him one question.

"I ask of you-Are you my master?"

Shirou couldn't help but reply "Yes. I am."

-(=O=)-

Fate/frozen twilight

Chapter One: The Summoning

-(=O=)-

[Day Two/Friday, January 30]

Rin had left her fathers-no, her study. She still couldn't get over that. Even though her father had been dead for a decade now, she still thought of that room as her father's study. It reminded her of him too much for it to be anything else. Archer silently followed her as she walked to the staircase, before she stopped.

"Oh, yes, Archer. I forgot a few things. First of all, which heroic spirit are you?"

He just stood still for a moment, concern visible on his face, before he answers with "I cannot tell you my true identity, for no other reason other than that I do not know."

Surprise evident in her voice, Rin yelled back at him "What's that supposed to mean? Are you messing with me?"

Archer looks towards the windows, his voice serious and respectful as he continues. "I mean no disrespect Master, but it is because of your imperfect summoning. My memories are in a jumble. My name and origin is hazy as well. It doesn't matter though."

Rin sigh. "Of course it matters! If I don't know what Heroic Spirit you are, I don't know how powerful you are!"

"That's a trivial matter," Archer says flatly.

"No it's not! If I don't know how powerful my partner is, I can't formulate a strategy!"

"What are you talking about? I am the servant summoned by you. I can only be the most powerful," he says, confidence evident in his voice.

"Well, whatever," Rin says. "That means that it'll be harder for enemy servants to identify you as well. For now, we'll overlook that you can't remember your identity."

She spins around, her hands on her hip as she addresses her Servant. "Now, Archer. About the other thing I forgot to mention. For the duration of the war, we will be allied with a friend of mine. He's the Master of Saber."

Archer raises an eyebrow. "Oh? Who is this friend? Someone you know through family connections? Some guy who you gave pity to?"

"He's a Magus who I've been friends with since grade school. His name is Shirou Emiya."

Archer nods. "More evidence to how incorrect I was when we first met, Master. To have become allies with one of my primary threats in the war. I must applaud you Master. Please, tell me when we will be ready to turn on the boy."

Rin stares daggers at him. "We're not going to be turning on him. As I said, we will be allied with him for the duration of the war. Anyways, Archer, your first job."

Archer grins. "Right down to business then. My master is belligerent. Now, who is my enemy-" he says, slight amounts of excitement present in his voice as Rin throws a broom and dustpan at him, which he catches with no effort at all.

"Your enemy, Archer, is the mess you left downstairs. Now, go clean the living room. You made a mess, so I expect it to be spotless," she orders him as she makes her way to the bathroom so she can prepare to go to bed.

"Wait," he interrupts. "What do you think Servants are?"

She looks at him, a slight grin on her face. "Familiars, right? They talk back and are unruly, however."

He sighs as she walks off, as he rests the broom on his shoulder. "Good grief. I will do as you wish, but you can go to hell Master."

Minutes later, at around 1:30 in the morning, the bedroom light of Rin Tohsaka clicked off, signalling the end of a long day, and the beginning of a new battle to be fought.

* * *

WISE UP!

SERVANT SABER

ID: King Arthur/Arturia Pendragon

Alias: The King of Knights

Master: Shirou Emiya

Alignment: Lawful Good

Stats:

Strength: B

Endurance: A

Agility: A

Magical Power: B

Luck: B

Noble Phantasm: A++

**Class Skills:**

Magic Resistance: A

Riding: B

**Personal Skills:**

Charisma: B

Instinct: A

Prana Burst: A

**Noble Phantasms:**

Avalon: EX (Barrier)

Excalibur: A++ (Anti-Fortress/Anti-Army)

Invisible Air: C (Anti-Unit)

* * *

SERVANT ARCHER

ID: UNKNOWN

Alias: UNKNOWN

Master: Rin Tohsaka

Alignment: True Neutral

Stats:

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Magical Power: B

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: ?

**Class Skills:**

Independent Action: B

Magic Resistance: D

**Personal Skills:**

Clairvoyance: C

Eye of the Mind (True): B

Thaumaturgy: C-

**Noble Phantasms:**

?


	2. The Long Night Approaches

It was before even the crack of dawn when she awoke. Silently, she crawled out of her bed, and walked to her dresser. The girl took off her nightgown, which had the same coloration as the plant which shared her name. She put on her underwear, and shrugged on her school uniform slowly.

Even though she often woke up as early as she did this morning, she was extremely tired this time. She had to assume that it was because of how she went with her incompetent brother and her Servant to scout for enemy masters as "That priest had told me that the war will officially start tonight," her brother had said.

Ah, yes, that was probably it. She had been out with her brother, and that had kept her up late last night, so she had only gotten three hours of sleep. She couldn't blame him. She wanted to win the Grail War too (although, she was the one who 'suggested' that they go scouting). The girl couldn't help it, despite the fact that she knew some of the people competing. She had to be rid of these damn worms that make her feel like...that. The worms that make her feel disgusted to look at her Senpai, as she imagined that he would say something terrible, that he'd call her a monster.

"Of course," a voice, deep, deep inside her whispered, "You also want _her_ to be dead, so you can be there for him while he's grieving, so you can pick up all of the pieces and make him yours."

She reached for her ribbon, and tied her hair with it. Despite the dark voice telling her to take advantage of their current situation and kill her, Sakura Matou had over two weeks for her revenge. She turns, and with a flutter of her pink ribbon, she leaves her room, plans for her revenge on Shinji Matou, Zouken Matou, and most importantly, Rin Tohsaka dashed around in her mind, each new option more and more tempting than the last.

-(=O=)-

Fate/frozen twilight

Chapter Two: The Long Night Approaches

-(=O=)-

His front door slid open with a slam so loud that he could probably hear it from the next block over. Shoes clattered down the hall as they were kicked off haphazardly, as a roaring ball of energy sprang into his dining room.

"SHIROU!" Taiga Fujimura shouted at the top of her lungs. "I'M HERE! WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST!"

Shirou sighs as he grabs the rice pot, and carries it over to the table. Placing it down, and moving to his normal spot as he pushes a bowl full of rice beside the Tiger's place.

"Good morning, Fuji-nee. Breakfast is ready," he says, serving Saber some rice, then passing the Heroic Spirit the bowl. "Oh," he speaks up suddenly, "Sakura phoned ahead and said that she won't be here this morning. She said that she had some stuff to do before practice this morning."

Fujimura nods excitedly, as she waits for Shirou to sit down so they can eat. He sits, and claps his hands as everyone at the table says "Thank you for the food." Or, at least, Saber and himself said it. Fujimura just shouted gibberish then started eating, while mixing "Chew-chew-swallow, chew-chew-swallow," in with random shouts of "This is so good!"

It wasn't until Saber beat Fujimura in eating through their first serving of that morning's breakfast that Fujimura noticed that the Heroic Spirit was there, despite them sitting beside each other.

"Shirou, may I have another serving?" Saber asks, holding the bowl out. Shirou nods, and begins scooping more rice into Sabers bowl, before grabbing another piece of fish for her. The sound of chopsticks hitting the table, and a small ball of rice soon following alerted Shirou and Saber to Fujimura's plight.

"Shirou…" the woman begins, a sinister look creeping into her eyes, "Who is this strange girl, and why is she sitting at our table?"

This wasn't good. Mentally, Shirou sighs. At least he had a decent cover story. "Well, you see Fuji-nee, this is a relative of my old man, through the woman who took care of him after his father died. Her name is Alice Kaminski."

Saber bows, as Fujimura narrows her eyes. She appeared to be considering the girl, scanning her thoroughly, before shrugging and accepting the story. Shirou sighs internally. Honestly, Fuji-nee would probably accept the story until the next morning and then question them again about it.

* * *

It was after ten in the morning when Rin Tohsaka blinked awake that morning. She sighed to herself, as even though she had slept for more than nine hours, she felt so tired. Shirou was right. She did use too much mana when summoning her Servant. She puts the clock down on her bed, and she slowly clambers out from underneath the oh-so-warm covers of her bed.

She made her way down stairs, over to the living room. First priority: get breakfast. Then she can worry about how her Servant can't remember who he is. Rin sighs as she reaches the door to the living room. Oh boy, Shirou is going to give her hell for that…

She opens the door, and muffles a yawn as she enters the room, only to be stunned at what she sees. "Okay, so maybe he isn't so bad after all…" she lets out, her voice covered by the distinct emotion of being impressed.

"You're quite the slob, aren't you girl? Even though the sun has been out for many hours, you just got up," came a snarky comment from the door to the kitchen.

Rin glares at Archer as she sits down on the sofa, and he walks over, a teapot, cup, and saucer on a silver tray. He places the cup and saucer down, before pouring the tea for her. She grabs the handle and has a sip.

"Not bad Archer," Rin says, as she drinks the rest of her tea. "Not bad at all."

He just smirks, and continues to hold the teapot in his hand. An aura of superiority washes off of him in waves, only to be destroyed as Rin shoots a glare straight into him.

"What are you smirking about?" Rin asks, a true aura of superiority flowing out from her. The true master of the Tohsaka house was obvious, even to any stranger looking in. Archer just responds with a grunt.

Rolling her eyes, Rin speaks again. "More importantly, have you remembered who you are?"

The man in red and black shakes his head, replying seriously with "No, I have not."

Rin sighs, as she finishes her tea. "Oh well, I'll think of what to do about that later. Come on Archer, prepare to head out."

* * *

Shinji had lept out of chair when Mr. Kuzuki had asked him a question for the day's reading assignment. He sputtered out the answer, then sat back down in a flash. The blue haired boy shrank down into his seat, desperate to hide from the teacher or other students.

Shirou watched him though, out of the corner of his eye. Shinji Matou was nervous, so visibly nervous in fact, that their classmates were starting to look at Shirou curiously, almost as if they thought that he had fought with Shinji again. Shirou continued to just sit and take his notes, however, and ignored the stares.

This might not be good. After all, someone was starting to create a bounded field around the school, and Shirou could guess why. There were over four hundred students at the school normally, and a handful of them were Magi. It would be an excellent source of prana, similarly to what the Servant who was causing the 'gas leaks' around the city has been doing.

Shirou looks back to the chalkboard, and copies down the newest lines of notes, before going back to his planning. It was likely that Shinji was the one to set up the bounded field, provided he was a master, so he could provide his servant with Prana, and his jumpiness today told Shirou that the blue haired boy on the other side of the room was likely the one who set up the bounded field, or at least knows who did it.

And so, as the lunch bell rang, and they were dismissed from class, Shirou Emiya had a decision to make-either tail Shinji Matou, or start to work on disabling or sabotaging the bounded field. Deciding to go with the latter, he left the classroom, looking for obvious points to start at.

* * *

If she were to be honest, Saber wasn't comfortable with the clothes Shirou had given her after she told him that she couldn't dematerialize. They reminded her too much of the clothing Irisviel wore, although from what he told her, they were likely some of the women's old clothes. They certainly felt like they were the same material that her former Master's wife had used, and they did fit her style.

Saber frowned as well. It was about four in the afternoon, and her Master, no, Shirou, had told her he'd be home at around this time. A with a call of "Alice, I'm home!" he returned. Saber couldn't help but be thankful as she grabbed her jacket and walked to the front door.

"Good afternoon, Shirou," she greets him, as he takes off his shoes.

"Ah, good afternoon. How are you, Alice?" Shirou asks, taking off his jacket.

Saber collects her boots, and replies "I am well, thank you."

"Is Fuji-nee here?" the boy asks, looking over his shoulder.

"No, Shirou, it is just us," the blonde warrior replies.

Shirou nods, his face serious as he looks back up. "Saber," he says, his school jacket draped over his arm, "I'm going to change out of my school uniform, then we're going to go meet with my friend. The one who's Archer's master. I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

The servant nods, and watches as her master disappears into the house for a few minutes, before he returns, his white button down replaced with a blue and white long sleeved t-shirt, and his brown slacks replaced with a pair of jeans. He puts on a simple black windbreaker that he was carrying with him, and Saber can hear the slight clinking of metal from inside the jacket.

Putting on his shoes, Shirou opens the door and turn towards Saber, before saying "Shall we go?"

"Yes, let's," Saber answers, nodding her head.

* * *

They sat together on the bench in the Fuyuki Central Park, near the memorial dedicated to those who died in the fires. Shirou had never liked this place, and as Rin listened to him, she could feel why, even with her rarely coming to 'the scene of the crime' as one could say.

The crime of the extermination of the lives of over 500 people.

The park was near empty, as per-usual. Only a few people other than themselves were in the area

Archer and Saber were a few meters off, discussing their abilities with each other, so they could learn to work together more efficiently. It was a good idea in practice, but it appeared that it was giving Saber some concern over how Archer said that he's skilled with a sword.

Rin sighs, and Shirou looks at her. "What?" the girl dressed in red asked.

"Nothing. So, what do you know about Archer?" he replied.

Rin scowls. This wasn't going to be good. How was she going to explain this to him? She was one of the people who taught him some of what he knows about magecraft! How could she say to him "Well, you see, I botched the summoning ritual…"

"Rin?"

She sighs. There really was nothing she could do about it. "Shirou, I may not have summoned Archer properly, so he can't properly remember who he is…" she says apologetically.

Shirou blinks, then laughs a little. Rin's scowl deepens.

"Oh, laugh it up will you? Yeah, let's make fun of Rin for one honest mistake!" she shouts, anger in her voice.

"No, it's not that. I didn't get the summoning right too. Saber can't go into spirit form because of that," the orange-haired magus replies.

Rin stares at him in disbelief. So that's why Saber was walking around in normal clothing. She smiled a little, listening as Shirou continued to speak.

"I guess that we've both made some mistakes then, huh?"

The Tohsaka family head nods. Clearing her throat, she speaks. "Anyways, what were you saying about the bounded field at the school?"

Shirou looks over at her, and reaches into his pocket, and removes an map of the school. Red dots were drawn on the page, and he points to each one, explaining where they were in which specific rooms. Rin bites her lip a little, the map and description of the designs of the power sources.

"I see," she begins, holding the map in front of her. "It does sound like a Prana draining field, and as you said, based on Matou's behavior, it likely is his doing. Have you worked on disarming it at all?" she questions.

"Yeah, I have. I outright disabled the sources here, here, here, and here," he responds, pointing out where they were. "I sabotaged some of them by overloading them with Prana, so when the field activates, those few won't, and I scraped off the blood that was used to form the circle on these three here, so that these sources won't activate properly either."

Rin nods, and tells him that he did a good job finding the points on the map. They would leave the park soon after that, and work their way to the Fuyuki City Church.

* * *

Despite that it's the only Catholic Church in Fuyuki City, and, due to the large number of foreigners who once lived in the city, there is quite a shocking number of Christians in Fuyuki, the Fuyuki City Catholic Church is in a bit of an odd area. On the same side of the Mion River as Shinto City, it is up a hill that overlooks the 'downtown,' or 'modern,' as some call it, area of the city. Most of the Catholics in Fuyuki City, however, live on the Miyama City side. However, this doesn't stop the town's priest from holding Mass two times a day, everyday.

It takes about an hour to walk there from the Emiya residence, and it's a similar length to the Church from the Tohsaka mansion. By the time the Masters of Archer and Saber reached the church, it was past sunset, and the streetlamps had been on since they had started walking over.

It would be a dangerous time for Rin and Shirou to be outside if they didn't have their Servants with them. They instructed their servants to go to specific positions and wait for them, saying that they wouldn't take long.

It was unsurprising to Shirou and Rin to see that Kirei Kotomine was reading the bible by candle light at the back of the main hall. He turns, his black robes swinging in the air as he approaches them.

"You've never accepted my invitations before, and now, you are here as a Master," the man says, his voice echoing grandly in the main hall. "At least, that's what I assume you and Mr. Emiya are here for, Rin?"

Silence reigned supreme in the church. The priest's golden cross shined in the moonlight, as he adjusted his robes and began to walk forward, his foot steps echoing similarly to how his voice was projected outwards.

"Truthfully, I never expected you to be The Seventh, Emiya. I fought against your father in the previous war, but to see his son fighting in the Fifth War? I cannot be anything but surprised," Kotomine wonders aloud.

Shirou looks at the priest. "I am here to register as the Master of Saber in the Fifth Holy Grail War, Father Kotomine."

Kotomine walks forward, his face deadly serious. He stops, not even two meters in front of Shirou, and then speaks once more. "May I see your Command Seals, Shirou Emiya?"

Shirou raises his left hand up for Kotomine to see. The priest closes his eyes, his face calm and reflective.

"Shirou Emiya," he starts, his tone as serious as it was earlier, "I, Kirei Kotomine hereby recognise you as a Master in the Fifth Holy Grail War. Should you lose your Servant and require protection, you may come here, to the Fuyuki City Church, and you will be given protection."

Shirou nods, then steps back as Rin confirms her standing as Archer's Master, the words "given protection" ringing in his head. As soon as they left the Church's gate, Shirou laughs.

Saber and Rin look at him, their faces asking him "What's so funny?"

"You do know that in the last war, only once Master sought protection from the Church, correct?" he asks as they leave.

Rin nods, and Saber just listens in.

"That man," Shirou continues, "Was Kirei Kotomine. Funny thing is, however, is that he didn't even lose his Servant when he did."

With that fact of information resting in their brains, the four continued on their trip home.

* * *

It was after ten o'clock in the night when Shirou had walked Rin home. He wandered back to his house through the streets and back alleys of Miyama Town, making his way to his house. He, however, doesn't notice something following Saber and himself. Despite all of his caution, he couldn't see it. A small girl with snow-white hair falling short at her shoulders, her clothing a white shirt, and a vest and pair of pants that were as dark as night, and the girl's companion, a young woman, her golden hair falling in spirals beside her, and a blue dress that was as pure as the sea.

The duo stops once Shirou and Saber reach the bounded fields surrounding the Emiya residence. They stand on the side of the road, watching the Master and Servant enter the house. They wait, in complete darkness as the lights in the Emiya house shot off one by one.

The golden haired watcher spins, the tresses of her hair flying as she walks back down the street. Before turning off onto another road, she stops and turns towards the white haired girl, asking her with a cruel grin spread across her face "So, Assassin, what do you think we should do about them?"

Assassin stares at the front gate to the Emiya house, a look of sincere look of thoughtfulness on her young face, before she too, turns away.

"We think that we should trick them into helping us, and then we stab them in the back, Mother," the girl replies, somehow twisting the word Mother into having a slight sound of the word 'master.'

The Master of Assassin begins to walk away, her Servant right behind her. As the view of them from the Emiya home shrank, the golden haired magus decided on a response for her Servant's idea.

"That might work, provided that he doesn't already have an ally in the Grail War," the woman says, the cruel smile still on her face.

* * *

WISE UP!

SERVANT ASSASSIN

ID: ?

Alias: ?

Master: ?

Alignment: ?

Stats:

Strength: ?

Endurance: ?

Agility: ?

Magical Power: ?

Luck: ?

Noble Phantasm: ?

Class Skills:

Presence Concealment A+:

-It is possible to disappear completely and become almost impossible to be detected. However, efficiency will decrease once preparations to attack are taken.

Personal Skills:

?

Noble Phantasm:

?


	3. The Three Knights

[Day Three/Friday, January 31]

In this world, he was just a young boy, not even eight years old. The sun was shining brightly, as it should, during the mid-June warmth. He had waken, with a bruise on his hand, despite the fact that he hadn't done anything except homework and clean his room the day before. He didn't think too much of it. Afterall, he was a child. At the time he had assumed that he had just gotten it from playing sports at school, or from messing around with his 'big sister.'

He approached the kitchen, happy as he could be, as he makes toast for him and his father. When he had finished, he called his father. The older man walked in, dressed in a black suit, as he had yet to stop wearing the suit in lieu of more traditional Japanese wear, like the man later would.

He sat at the table, and they loudly thanked god for the food. The boy ate, but his father didn't. Instead, he stared at the boy's left hand, and the bruise the boy had.

"Hey," the man had said, "Can I see your hand please?"

The boy, confused as to why his father had asked, extended his hand, the bruise facing towards his father. His father traced the bruise, and the boy followed his father's finger, and sees how the bruise was made of three distinct shapes.

He looks at his father, and sees a look of shock on the man's face. No, not only shock. Complete, and utter horror. The man he thought of as an invincible hero was scared, and to the mind of a seven year old boy, this was not good. The boy was shocked when his father stood up, determination suddenly apparent on his face.

His father told him to put on his best clothes, and when the boy was finished, they started to walk across Miyama Town, into the district where all of the western houses stood tall and proud. They walked, until they reached a large house, no, a mansion. His father walked to the door, and knocked loudly. Shirou watched in curiosity as a girl his age, with eyes as blue as sapphires, and long black hair that tied into twintails, opened the door, with a gentle look on her face, but that would be soon to change.

"Who are you?" the girl had asked with absolute malice.

"You are the head of the Tohsaka family, correct?"

The girl nodded, and the boy could feel that she was prepared to slam the door shut at any moments notice.

"My name is Kiritsugu Emiya, and I'd like to register a workshop in Fuyuki City, Miss Tohsaka."

And so, on June 15, 1994, a little over three months since the Fuyuki City fire of February 1994, Shirou Emiya met Rin Tohsaka, and with the memories that had been provided finished, Shirou awoke from the dream, and returned to reality.

-(=O=)-

Fate/frozen twilight

Chapter Three: The Three Knights

-(=O=)-

He was locking his front door as he was about to leave for school when she lagged behind. Shirou looks up as he finishes closing up his house, to see Sakura still standing beside the door, wearing her pink coat over her school uniform. Her appearance was sad, but joyful at the same time.

"Senpai, I won't be able to come over for dinner for a while as of tonight," she says, sorrowfully.

Shirou raises an eyebrow as he stuffs his key into his coat pocket. It was another cold day this day, and Shirou wasn't fond of it. He turns towards the purple haired girl, and adjusts his scarf.

"Yeah, sure. Don't worry about it Sakura, it's the weekend, and as Fuji-nee keeps saying, it's getting pretty dangerous at night with the murders that are happening," Shirou responds, as he starts walking towards the front gate.

"That's not the primary reason!" the girl says, panic in her voice. "It's mostly a family matter, but there's those reasons too. If you need me, come find me, and I'll see what I can do to help."

"Yeah, will do. Thanks Sakura," he replies, as he checks the bounded field that detected how hostile a person was around his home. The results weren't that shocking. He couldn't tell about what it was, but Sakura was hiding something, or lying to him.

* * *

He was spinning the pencil in his hand during the silent work completion time they had. His eyes scanned the classroom during this time, while making sure that he wasn't looking particularly suspicious while doing so. Unfortunately for a certain orange-haired magus, the boy who had been one of his primary leads on the bounded field appears to have calmed down since yesterday.

Yes, unfortunately for Shirou, the almost always snarky Shinji Matou was back to his usual self, bragging and over inflated ego too. Shirou continues spinning his pencil around, thinking about the battle ahead. Of course, to his disappointment, whoever had set up the sources for the bounded field had evidently considered the possibility of sabotage as some of the areas he had adjusted had been deactivated and shut down.

Murphy's Law was still going strong, as, whoever had set the damned thing up had created even more sources for the field to project from. Finishing his work, he closes his book, a few minutes before the bell rang.

Grabbing his coat and bag, he dashes out of the classroom, intent on reaching the archery dojo before the Matou boy could waltz in there screaming about how great he was. He rushes out of the doors, and into the dojo, quickly changing into his uniform. Unsurprisingly, even though he had raced out of the school building, Mitsuzuri was somehow already in the archery dojo, preparing the equipment.

She spins around when he enters, a smile plastered on her face. "Hey Emiya!" she says with a wave.

"Good afternoon, Mitsuzuri. Assistant-Captain Emiya reporting for duty!" Shirou shouts, a grin on his face.

She scowls, before replying with "Oh, knock it off Emiya. We've got work to do, so stop goofing off."

"Yes ma'am," he replies with a goofy grin.

The captain of the archery team sighs. "Whatever. Emiya, can you make sure that Matou isn't too hard on the first years again?"

"Why would he do that? He's been behaving all day," Shirou questions, checking the condition of the bows as more students start to trickle in.

Mitsuzuri looks at him, her hazel eyes staring straight into Shirou's gold ones. "Word is, he got rejected by Tohsaka this morning."

Shirou let out a groan. He had better things to do than make sure Shinji could keep his anger in check. This would be a long practice.

* * *

He stops walking, and he closes his eyes, as he presses his hand against the book case. A pulse, visible only to him, runs through the room, as he searches for one of the anchors for the bounded field that surrounds the school. A small 'ding' is heard in his mind, as he locates one hidden behind some books.

"Gotcha," Shirou whispers. Carefully removing the book, he reaches for the sigil, his hand charged with prana. A second after touching it, it was gone, just mist in the air.

He places the books back, carefully, because he knew how the librarians at the school had eyes like hawks, and he rises to his full height. He slowly makes his way out of the library, constantly checking to be sure that there were no surprise traps, waiting for him. Sliding the door open, he comes face to face with Saber, standing vigil at the door to the library.

"Master," she greets him, her eyes narrowed. "Besides Archer, I recently detected another Servant enter the area."

"This isn't good," he replies, as he starts to jog to the roof. "Saber, I want to see what you're capable of here, provided the enemy Servant desires a fight."

They reach the final storey below the roof, only to see a red and black blur from where the roof, and then bounce back up. A blue blob falls after them, chasing them into the schoolyard.

"Well, Saber, I want you to assist Archer in fighting whoever that is. Go, now. I'll be right behind you," the orange haired magus orders. Saber nods, then dashes off to join the fight.

The sound of clashing blades resonates throughout the building as Shirou runs to the roof to dismantle the anchor that Rin had been going to. He finishes doing so, and notices the silence.

"This probably isn't good," he mutters, running off to get downstairs. He reaches the doors, and sees Archer, and a man who was almost a direct opposite of Archer coloring wise. Blue and silver tights, as opposed to Archer's red and black armour. The man's weapon, a lance that was close to being two meters long was a blood red, and appeared to be a horrible crimson shade because of the energy that bled from it.

Shirou could feel the amount of mana bleeding from the spear from well over one hundred meters away, and he could see crimson leaking in an aura from the clearly demonic weapon. It was truly something that could kill in a single swipe, and he could be sure that the Servant who wielded it would definitely be able to kill any of them here with ease, provided that he could call forth his Noble Phantasm.

A clink of metal echoes out from off to Shirou's right, and Lancer, who had previously been concentrating solely on Archer looks, and sees one of his worst nightmares: the Saber class servant. She stood, her invisible sword held in front of her, moonlight reflecting off of her silver armour.

And then she started to speak, her words echoing across the field, and easily heard by everyone there. "Lancer! As one of my fellow knight classes, I, the Saber of the Fifth Holy Grail War, challenge you to a duel."

Lancer, not even daring to lower his weapon, stared at Saber, his red eyes boring straight into her emerald ones.

"Saber, are you planning to have Archer shoot me in the back while I battle you?" Lancer replies, the weapon in his hands still bleeding crimson out from it's point.

Saber lowers her weapon. "I would not dare it, Lancer. It would be dishonorable on my side."

It was deathly still in the field for the next several seconds. Although it was just a handful of seconds, to those involved, it may as well been hours. Lancer, his Noble Phantasm primed and ready to fire. Archer, his twin white and black swords in his hands, his body in position to strike at a moment's notice. Rin was looking over at Lancer and Saber, her expression the one that she always had when she was analysing something. Shirou tensed, starting to leak Od through his circuits, so that he can use a spell at a moment's notice, and Saber, she was standing, her arms outstretched, her sword held it both of her hands, pointing towards the moon.

It was then that Lancer decided to speak. "I suppose that it may be best to accept your request Saber, provided that Archer does not interfere."

Saber relaxes her grip slightly, as she changes her stance into one designed for combat. "May the best Servant win, Lancer."

With two simultaneous kicks of gravel, sending pebbles flying, the two Servants launch at each other, spear and sword crashing together. The spear moving too fast to see, but somehow, Saber parried each time, sparks flying out from the crashing blades. Saber shoves Lancer back, and he dodges her blade as it swings at him.

He lands, and launches at her, his spear outstretched. Saber sidesteps, and swings upward, throwing Lancer off balance. The flurry of swipes and slashes from the invisible blade continues, each more and more aggressive as the swordswomen attacks. Each step throws more gravel, each missed or blocked attack that hits the ground or a wall denting it or throwing debris out, every time they jump, land, or launch themselves at each other breaking and shooting up chunks of pavement.

This was a true battle between Servants, not the stuff you read in journals from previous survivors. The battle was so much more intense in real life than what others have written. Even The Lord El-Melloi II's accounts, as full with detail as anyone could come to expect from the man's records was nothing like this, just the sheer ferocity of the two was astounding.

Finally, the separate, a few meters all of the space between the two, as they stared at each other. Silence returned to the ruined field, where three heroes of the past had met and fought.

"Damn, you coward. Why do you conceal your weapon?" Lancer questions, his spear held so that he could strike at a moment's notice.

"It is so my identity is not revealed, Lancer," Saber replies. The king stood proud on the battlefield, her armor scratched, but also clean, the blue and silver majestically shining in the night.

Lancer scowled, as he readies his spear. Saber shifts slightly, and continues to speak.

"What is the matter, Lancer? If you just stand there, you'll give your fellow spearmen a bad name. If you do not come to me, I shall go to you!"

Lancer smirks, as he shifts his stance. His spear was pointed downward, towards the ground, and his hands held the weapon with the utmost care. Shirou watches in shock, as the blue-clad man slides his hand down the spear.

"One question Saber. Since this is our first meeting, would you be interested in calling this a draw?"

Saber shakes her head, her blonde hair flailing with her head. "I am sorry Lancer, but I think not. You will fall here."

"Damn," the spearmen begins. "My objective was to simply observe, but it seems that I'll have to fight."

Suddenly, the crimson spear unleashes it's energy once more, a glowing aura of death surrounding it. Lancer looks at Saber, his eyes completely serious. "I guess that I'll have to use my trump card," he threatens.

Saber doesn't waver, as Lancer shouts at her "I'll have your heart!"

Time, seemingly once more slowed. Shirou looks around, and sees Rin and Archer on the school's roof, Archer's bow aimed at Lancer's head. Lancer, who was leaping forward at Saber, sails through the air. Saber's eyes were closed, her expression one of absolute peace, almost as if she had accepted that she was going to die here.

Lancer lands, as he thrusts forward with the demonic blade, screaming it's name for all to hear. Saber opens her eyes, and reveals her true determination for the use of Lancer's Noble Phantasm.

"GAE BOLG!" the blue-clad warrior shouts, as a beam of red energy sails forth from it's tip. Saber meets the energy with her sword, but something feels off, as reality snaps and the beam stabs Saber's opposite shoulder. Blood splatters out, as Lancer, using the demonic energy, throws Saber into the ground with a crash.

That was when all hell rained loose. A storm of arrows flew at Lancer, Shirou, and Saber, all coming from Archer. Lancer dodges them all, and bounds up at Archer, his spear meeting the man in red and black's swords, each of them expertly used to counter Lancer. Saber bounces away from the arrows, and uses her sword to deflect those that she couldn't dodge.

Saber rushes to join Archer against Lancer, despite her wishing that she didn't have to, as Archer had disrupted her honorable duel. Lancer, clearly outnumbered and outgunned, laughs.

"Although I'm impressed that you dodged my 'undodgeable' move Saber, I have to go now. My Lord's a coward you see, and so he's ordering me back," Lancer says.

Saber, disgusted at Lancer's nonchalant comment, points her sword at him. "You are running, Ireland's Child of Light?"

"You're more than welcome to follow," he replies, his back facing them. "But if you do, then prepare to die," he finishes, hostility evident in his voice, and with a few jumps, he left the rooftop, bound across the city.

Saber relaxes, and prepares to yell at Archer for his lack of honor, when she feels her prana source cut. Shock spreads over her face as she too jumps off the roof to where Shirou was lying, face first into the ground.

"Master? She asks as Rin runs up, mana running through her circuits as she tries to heal the boy from the wounds that were clearly from Archer's now dissipated arrows. Saber couldn't do anything but watch as her Master's friend grabs a pendant from around her neck, and uses the mana stored inside of it to attempt to save the orange haired boy.

Saber, the once proud King Arthur, felt like a little girl again. She was useless. She had lost on her third day of existence in this timeframe. She wouldn't get the Grail.

* * *

Illya happily walks through town, Berserker following her. She was making her way towards where she had met Kiritsugu's bastard son, to where she would face him again. She stops, her snow-white hair blowing in the wind. This was almost interesting. One of the Servants had lost their Master, this early in the war. The Servant-Saber, she could feel like it was Saber's soul was being absorbed by the Grail already.

She then remembered. Saber was the one that The Replacement had summoned. Illya snarled, anger the most obvious emotion visible on her. She starts kicking the wall beside the road in anger, her fury ready for all to see.

Some bastard killed him! Her Replacement! The one that she was going to make suffer in revenge for that Bastard that she had once lovingly called Father leaving her! She stops kicking the wall when she feels it. Saber's soul returning to the Servant. That meant that whoever killed the boy had formed a contract with the Servant, or the boy was somehow still alive.

Hoping it was the latter, she starts walking towards where she predicted he would be, somewhere near that school of his. She hopes, for whoever had attempted to kill the boy had failed. If they hadn't, then they were going to suffer through a very long, and painful death.

On her mother's name, Illyasviel von Einzbern swore that she'd kill the one who attempted to kill Shirou Emiya.

* * *

WISE UP!

SERVANT LANCER

ID: Cu Chulainn

Alias: The Hound of Ulster, Ireland's Child of Light

Master: ?

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Stats:

Strength: B

Endurance: c

Agility: A

Magical Power: C

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: B

**Class Skills:**

Magic Resistance: C

**Personal Skills:**

Battle Continuation: A

Disengage: C

Divinity: B

Rune Magic: B

Protection From Arrows: B

**Noble Phantasms:**

Gae Bolg (The Barbed Spear that Pierces with Death): B (Anti-Unit)

?

* * *

SERVANT BERSERKER

ID: UNKNOWN

Alias: UNKNOWN

Master: Illyasviel von Einzbern

Alignment: UNKNOWN

Stats:

Strength: ?

Endurance: ?

Agility: ?

Magical Power: ?

Luck: ?

Noble Phantasm: ?

**Class Skills:**

Mad Enhancement: ?

**Personal Skills:**

?

**Noble Phantasms:**

?


	4. The Snake Hunters

"Excuse me," she says as she leaves the room, her friend wrapping himself in bandages. They had returned to the Emiya Residence, as Shirou's school uniform had been ripped apart by Archer's arrows. Passing by Saber, who diligently guards the door to Shirou's room, Rin seeks out her own Servant.

"Archer!" Rin yells at him from the courtyard.

The white haired man looks at her without a care in the world. "Yes, Rin?" he asks her, evidently bored.

"Get. Down. Here. Now," she spits out, anger evident in her voice.

The Servant of the Bow sighs, and hops to the ground from his perch on the roof. He walks to her, acting as though he didn't have a care in the world.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Rin questions him, her arms crossed as she taps her foot on the ground.

Anyone could tell that she was pissed. Archer chose to ignore her tone of voice and body language, as he replies with "I saw a chance to eliminate two targets, and I took that chance."

Rin's mouth twists into a snarl. "Archer, do you not understand that Shirou and Saber are our allies for the duration of the war?"

"No, I understand perfectly. However, my primary goal is to win the Holy Grail War, not carry along some kid and his Servant."

Rin opens her eyes. She gave him a long, cold stare. Anyone who knew her would immediately be able to tell that she had once again slipped into analytical mode.

Her scowl becomes more evident as she raises her right hand, the hand that had her Command Seals shining on the back.

"Archer!" she speaks, her voice full of conviction. "By the order of my Command Seal, I order you-unless I say otherwise, do not attack Shirou Emiya or Servant Saber for the remainder of the Fifth Holy Grail War!"

His eyes widen as the Command Seal takes effect on him. His body stiffens as he attempts to resist it. He fails how ever, and so he just sighs.

"Was that truly the best decision that you could make? Using two Command Seals this quickly?" he asks, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Evidently, Archer, using one to make you follow my orders wasn't enough," Rin replies.

She watches him shrug, leaning on the side of the house. Archer stares at her, his eyes narrowed. Sighing, he returns to his perch on the roof, to continue as the lookout for the moment. Flexing his fingers, he couldn't help but feel surprised at how similar things were in this War. Similar, but different.

Looking to the cold, dark sky, clouds nowhere to be seen, a handful of stars twinkling in the distance. Things really were different to how he remembered them. The King shouldn't be here, she was supposed to be summoned at least half an hour from now, but here she was, having been summoned just hours before him.

But then again, things were also greatly the same. There was the orange haired boy, the petite blonde girl with the emerald eyes, and the raven haired beauty with eyes as clear as sapphires. He could bet that if he looked, he'd meet the winter princess with the platinum blonde hair.

Exhaling, the man draped in red chuckles. This was going to be different. He could feel it, all based on how the Emiya boy has behaved thus far. The War that he had been called into was going to be interesting, Fate herself has so far guaranteed it, and to hell with what he knew that Gaia and Alayla would say. They'd want him to live to destroy the darkness of the Grail.

The Emiya boy, the proud king, and Archer's Master left the front door of the Emiya house. His Master calls him down, telling him to join them. It was time to face his next enemy. Dematerializing, he joins them, their perfectly synchronised footsteps hitting the ground.

And so, four people, two men, two women left the house, hunting for the future. The King of Knights, wanting a different outcome for her kingdom, the red-clad magus looking for a way to save her younger sister. The King of Swords, with his desire to prevent himself from taking the same path as he did, and an unintentional hero, working to save his loved ones.

-(=O=)-

Fate/frozen twilight

Chapter Four: The Snake Hunters

-(=O=)-

He runs faster than he had ever ran before in his life. His Servant is battling against that monstrosity of a Servant behind him. He can feel the less-than familiar weight of the subcompact Glock 26 that he had gotten using some of his family's contacts. It bounced against his side, stuffed inside his jacket pocket as he sprints away from the fight behind him. Originally, he was planning on using it against enemy Masters, but that freakish girl had just sat there, blocking the entire magazine of bullets.

"A freak of a Master, a freak of a Servant, huh?" he curses.

If he died here, however, he'd literally become worm food for his grandfather's familiars, and from what he's seen of his sister's training, it didn't look pleasant. Content with his decision to live, Shinji Matou kept running away from the copper and onyx skinned monster that at that moment was fighting against his Servant.

Of course, the incoming servants weren't his only problem-the white haired girl was following him as well, her familiars ducking and dodging through trees in the forest on the edge of town. A silver blur of a bolt of energy flies past him as his feet make contact with the roots and trees below him.

Damn. They'd found him. Again. If only he wasn't so bad at magecraft he'd be able to shake them off, but no, he just had to only have a total of two circuits. Or something like that. Wind rushes through his hair as he runs through the trees, to a clearing in the forest. There she was, that freakish girl that he couldn't seem to get rid of.

With a cruel grin, she greets him. "Good evening, Shinji Matou. Are you ready to surrender?"

Out of breath, Shinji stares at the girl with a look of shock plastered onto his face. She could somehow outrun him, and he familiars could follow him non-stop. Honestly, her magical output must be outstanding! It easily dwarfed even his wretched sister.

He stands, out of breath, as he watches as the Einzbern magus smirks, her long silver hair blowing elegantly in the wind. He straightens himself up, and prepares to return to a full, fear induced sprint. The girl's familiars hover around as Shinji consider his options.

Coming to a decision, he looks into the girl's crimson eyes. "Is 'no' an answer?" he pants out.

"I'm afraid not," she answers him, as she manoeuvres her familiars. "I suppose, however, that the choice wasn't much of one in the first place. After all, the dead have no business in the affairs of the living," she says sweetly.

He breaks down the decision that he was thrust a moment earlier. He could call to his Servant, and have it defend him, although that would make the girl call her Servant to them, and then he'd really be doomed. He could sit here and accept his fate, and die here, in the darkness. Of course, he could run, and hope to lose the girl in the forest.

And so, as the girls familiars begin to fire, he makes the obvious choice: run! He breaks off, back into the woods, away from the Einzbern girl, deep into the forest. His feet finds the soil and roots below them, as he makes his way deeper into the shadowy woods. He dodges trees and stones, ducking under branches, leaping over bushes, all in a desperate attempt to escape the little girl who was chasing him.

He bursts into another clearing, panting, as he collapses under a tree, hoping that the girl would take a bit of time to catch up to him, and allow him some rest. He checks the pistol he had been keeping in his pocket until now. He sighs as he reloads it. Shinji probably should have practiced with it more often, but what's done is done.

He stands up, and leans into the log of the tree, wishing that he could be at home, in bed, not out here in the cold. The sound of a branch snapping echoes behind him, and as he spins around, he sees one of his worst nightmares- that girl, the Einzbern Master. She smiles innocently, appearing almost happy to be there at the moment.

"Hello, Matou. It really appears that you are worthless."

Spinning, he points the pistol at her, and is about to fire at her point blank when a bang echoes through the forest. The pistol jerks to the side, flying out of his hand as he's about to fire. Pain runs through his arm. His index finger was broken, snapped backwards by the force of whatever had hit his pistol.

He hears the sound of a bullet casing bouncing off of stone, and looks towards where the sound had came from. One of his greatest fears stands there, reloading the break action pistol in his hand. Orange hair blows in the wind, a grey wind-breaker with a black and red scarf signals the arrival of Shirou Emiya.

"Yo, Shinji. I'm going to have to ask you not to attack my sister," he shouts, closing the pistol up, and pointing it back at the blue haired boy's head. "Or the next round is going through you."

Blood running down his hand, Shinji reaches for the pistol he had dropped, and swings it up, pulling the trigger with his left hand. A click sounds as the hammer strikes, but no shot fires. He pulls the trigger again, and looks over the pistol to see that the slide was shattered, a hole sitting right in the middle of the slide..

"You know, Shinji, I probably shouldn't do it, but reinforcing a bullet is so worth it," Shirou comments as he makes his way towards the cowering boy.

An energy blast hits the dirt by his feet, and Shirou looks to see Illya looking at him, her familiars pointed at him. "So, Emiya," she spits out his name in disgust, "Why are you interrupting?"

"He," Shirou points at the cowering Matou, "Is likely the one killing the majority of the innocent people in the area. I am here to take him in, because it's the right thing to do."

Illya frowns. "Are you sure that you want to do that, Emiya?" she asks innocently. "I wouldn't want you to be shot in the back because you looked away from the worm here."

"That won't happen Big Sis," Shirou replies. "I'll live. After all, I promised Dad that I'd save you."

Illya blinks in shock, taking a step back. That statement confused her. Didn't grandfather say that the Replacement was evil? That he was like a male version of the evil-stepmother in the fairy tales Mama had once told her? Like an evil-step brother or something?

And now, because of that one sentence, she wasn't sure. At that made her mad.

"What do you mean by that?" she questions, hostility in her voice as her familiars reposition themselves.

"It's because he still loved you, even until his death," Shirou answers, walking towards Shinji, who was starting to crawl away.

"You know, if you want, we can go visit his grave one day," Shirou offers, grabbing Shinji's collar.

That one little comment, an offering of a family get together of sorts, causes Illya to snap. As far as she currently knows, for the past ten years of her life, she had been lied to by her family. By the people who raised her. They had described the Replacement as cruel, heartless, cold, as everything that could be used to describe a villain.

They had told her that she would be the Hero, sent to stop (horribly murder) the Villain with her partners (Servants) and gain revenge on the manipulative little boy who had taken her father away from her, who had replaced her with the evil boy. Yes, she should have been the one to save the world by removing the monstrous boy who made even her father abandon her?

Her mind was travelling at a hundred kilometres per second, and each result from her inquiries into what she had been told were being found as incorrect. She screams, ordering her familiars to fire off bolts towards her brother, energy rounds searing through the air. A second immediately afterwards, a silver and blue ball flies from the forest, followed by an onyx and copper beast.

The clash of swords follows as the two Servants make battle. Saber attacks ruthlessly at Berserker, her sword meeting his perfectly, as they fight in the clearing in the forest. Silver pushes, only to be forced back by grey. Grey and copper swings, only to be met by blue and gold-it was beautiful to watch.

Unfortunately for Shirou, he wasn't able to watch as Illya attacks him, her familiars firing rounds at him, he is forced to hide from them.

"Trace on!" he shouts, conjuring a bastard sword and using it to defend against the familiars.

The bolts kept coming, missing him or being blocked by the swinging sword. He lunges with the blade, stabbing a familiar, as Saber does the same against Berserker, cutting the giant's arm. The battle continues, with Saber matching Berserker's speed and power with her own, and Shirou using dummy swords to allow him to march towards Illya's familiars.

When he becomes close enough, he strikes, slashing through one familiar, then shooting the next one with his father's Thompson Contender, a reinforced .30-06 tracer round killing the familiar by splitting it in half.

A sudden crash is heard as a purple haired woman flies through the trees, only for Archer to follow her, blades in hand.

Rin attacks Shinji, who desperately swings at her with a switchblade, his pistol still destroyed. Flares of Gandr shots and swinging lunges with whatever the boy could get his hands on are heard during any brief pause between the Servants fighting. Shirou continues to fight against Illya's familiars, desperate to push them into the forest.

A clang rings out, as Saber allows a hit in so she could hit Berserker. Her armor becomes dented inwards, the result of the blow she allowed in, and blood slowly drips out of the wound, but the strike she landed cut deeply across the monster's chest. She dodges the next swing, and continues her assault.

However, the most impressive scene that night was Archer-expertly dodging the purple haired Servant's attacks, weaving in and out of Saber and Berserker's battle to attack his foe, even at times attacking Berserker to distract the mad warrior so Saber can land a blow. Rin's attacks were mostly just to toy with Shinji, as he had no real way to attack her. So, she shifts her attacks into more supporting Shirou's battle with Illya.

Which was perfect for Shirou, as when she throws a low-level gem his way, while simultaneously shouting "Blinden-heilige Licht," Shirou immediately knows what to do-he closes his eyes, and reaches for the Contender.

He snaps it open as the gem detonates, illuminating the whole area. He needs two seconds to reload, and he has five seconds until the flare finishes burning. He removes the cartridge, tossing it to the side, as he grabs a new tracer round from his jacket. Pushing it into the barrel, it stops with a satisfying 'click'. He closes the break-action pistol, and raises it, ready to fire.

And as the mana-fueled flare stops burning, he does, the tracer round flying through the air, a red line burning straight at Illya's last familiar. She feels it die as the bullet impacts, tearing into the bird made of hair.

At the same time, taking advantage of the mad beast being blinded, Saber stabs at the monster's heart, only for Berserker to stop her attack with it's hand. However, Saber had another trick up her sleeve. She uses one her Personal Skills in one of the best ways she could, as she fires her Prana Burst, killing the monster with a pure blast of mana. It destroys half of Berserker's torso, leaving a hollow gap in it's chest.

Berserker collapses onto it's knees, once glowing crimson eyes blank. The mad warrior was dead. Saber dashes off to join Archer against the other Servant, but Archer just flings the Servant he had been fighting into the woods and dashes towards Berserker, saying one message to Rin.

"Get clear. That won't be enough."

He runs towards Berserker, a new weapon materializing in his hands, as Rin jumps into a ditch, yelling at Shirou, who speeds at inhuman speeds. Illya runs behind the tree line over five meters from them, and disappears into the darkness. Saber takes off into the woods, as Archer, with a leap, jumps at least fifty meters into the air, his bow aimed, with the new weapon as ammo, at Berserker.

A Berserker who had just regenerated the hole in his chest. Now standing tall, his wounds fully healed, Berserker roars, to show his return to life. Just in time to take Archer's arrow to his face. An explosion rocks the area, sending a cloud of dust over Rin and Shirou's heads. Flames dance on the ground in the clearing, as Berserker stands in the middle of the grove panting.

Orange decorates the clearing thanks to the burn of the flame, and smoke fills the air. Archer crashes into a bush after falling down from the sky, and Saber stares at the destruction with a look of awe. Berserker grumbles, and makes his way to where Illya stands on a log at an entry into the trees.

The girl clad in purple, surrounded by the orange-gold light of the flames laughs as Berserker reaches her. "Your Servant amuses me, Rin. Even Berserker likes him," she calls out to them. She turns towards Shirou, a sweet grin on her face. "Let's play again, Emiya. I'll be waiting for you."

Berserker begins to trudge off into the forest, his feet coming into contact with the ground without a sound. Shirou looks out towards the flame, and can't help but feel disturbed by Archer. When the red and black armored man had summoned his arrow, Shirou had suddenly felt Mana being drained from him. He didn't like it. Slumping into the dirt at the bottom of the trench, he looks up, seeing Shinji and his Servant jumping out of the clearing. Blinking, Shirou looks closer at the Servant's fleeing form.

Didn't Shinji's Servant have purple hair? Not red? And wasn't the Servant a female?

Almost as if it could read Shirou's mind, the Servant seems to change form, and become the busty, purple haired Servant he had seen fighting Archer. Shirou sighs, and looks up towards the sky. The stars were still twinkling as the fire illuminates the clearing, casting shadows everywhere.

"Was your Grail War like this, dad?" he wonders aloud.

Rin walks over, her clothes dotted with rips, covered in dirt, she sits down next to Shirou, before answering with "I doubt it. After all, our parents weren't in high school when they fought in the war."

With a chuckle, the best friends look back to the sky. The stars twinkling, unaware of the events taking place in the forest outside of Fuyuki City at the time, each one a single, shining dot of light in the otherwise pitch black night. Leaning on a tree ten meters away from the two teenagers, the golden haired King of Knights smiles, and looks over the two friends, while reminiscing about her past experiences in the town of Fuyuki, during a war in which she was betrayed by the one person she was supposed to completely trust.

Archer stares at the Emiya boy, his eyes narrowed. He contemplates what he should do about the Emiya boy, the one who evidently would not become the man's greatest enemy. Archer lets out a quiet sigh, his hand reaching into a pocket he had hidden away inside his armor, and pulls out a perfectly polished ruby, one he had been given long, long ago. His plans now in jeopardy, Archer stuffs the gem back into his pocket, and disappears into spirit form, leaving a shimmer of energy where he stood moments before.

Assassin watches her enemies from atop a tree, her eyes examining the contestants there. The boy's fighting style was certainly a challenge, as he had the ability to attack in close or long range scenarios, as could Archer. Saber's combat style, however, appeared fairly standard. The Tohsaka girl was unsurprisingly boring, as Assassin's Master had told her, and Berserker was interesting too, with his unaffected sword skills, even in the height of madness.

Berserker's master appeared to rely primarily on familiars, which truly was interesting for how her familiars operated. The Matou boy appeared useless in combat, as he had just ran away and hid the entire time, but his Servant was behaving oddly. It didn't help that it's appearance had changed as it left, only to change back to the one it held in the battle. Her reconnaissance complete, Assassin leaves the scene of the battle, jumping on trees, back into the town to report her findings.

Mentally, she confirms her target priority. The most dangerous masters definitely were Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka. Their teamwork was absolute, completely polished. Not a single flaw. Their Servants were the best out there, that was for sure. The golden and blue swords woman, with her high stats and amazing skill, and the red and black man, with his shots accurate, and his blades sharp.

"It's a shame," Assassin's master tells her, "That we're going to kill them."

A battle containing four Servants would not be easily missed, especially when one of them is Berserker, one of the other Servants fires off a giant beam of light into the sky, and another causes an earth shocking explosion.

Of course, there was also the fact that one of the Servants was following his grandson, but to Zouken Matou, that wasn't for concern. He had outright seen how useless the boy was in the fight, swinging that ridiculous knife of his like it was a god-killing sword.

The Matou patriarch calls his insect familiars back, unaware that a second and third party was hijacking onto the 'signal,' so to say.

The second party was the old worm's granddaughter, who needed to see the fight between her brother, her sister, and her love. The third party, on the other hand, only has limited relations with the Matous, other than it's connection to Sakura Matou. Slithering away, the shadowy substance that has occupied the familiars for ten years adjusts it's plans for the future.

* * *

WISE UP!

SERVANT BERSERKER

ID: UNKNOWN

Alias: UNKNOWN

Master: Illyasviel von Einzbern

Alignment: UNKNOWN

Stats:

Strength: A+

Endurance: A

Agility: A

Magical Power: A

Luck: B

Noble Phantasm: A

**Class Skills:**

Mad Enhancement: B

**Personal Skills:**

Battle Continuation: A

Bravery: A+

Divinity: A

Eye of the Mind (False): B

**Noble Phantasms:**

?

* * *

SERVANT (ERROR OCCURRED)

ID: UNKNOWN

Alias: UNKNOWN

Master: Shinji Matou

Alignment: UNKNOWN

Stats:

Strength: C

Endurance: E+

Agility: B+

Magical Power: B+

Luck: A+

Noble Phantasm: A

**Class Skills:**

?

**Personal Skills:**

?

**Noble Phantasms:**

?


	5. The First Push

[Day Four/Sunday, February 1]

With a groan, she opens her eyes. She stares through a window in the tiny shack she was in, and sees snow gently drifting to the ground. She tries to use her right arm to lift herself up, but she finds she cannot. Glancing down, she sees a stump where her hand once was, and her Command Seals missing.

"I see that you are finally awake," a voice says.

She looks around, and sees a man sitting in the darkness. He stands, and she looks at him closely. White, spiky hair is accompanied by all black clothes, and an almost metallic looking black chestplate making up some form of armor on the man. An ebony cloak is wrapped around him, with a hood that nearly covers his face. Empty, dark brown eyes look at her, as he approaches the girl laying on the floor.

"Who are you?" she asks, her voice raspy, but still containing hostility.

"I am Servant Avenger, and you, you are my Master," he answers her calmly.

-(=O=)-

Fate/frozen twilight

Chapter Five: The First Push

-(=O=)-

"Mistress Illyasviel," Sella begins, "Why did you allow them to escape?"

It was just after dawn, and the morning can still be considered young. Sitting at the head of the table in the dining room, Illya listens to Sella's ranting on how she should of killed at least one of the enemy Masters the previous day. Illya doesn't actually register any of what Sella was saying at the time, however, as she just sits there, thinking.

Thinking about her brother, the one who calls himself Shirou Emiya. Of course, he wasn't as evil as her grandfather had said he was. Her current opinion of him is that he's quite nice. He had offered to go to Kiritsugu's grave with her, which she honestly was tempted to accept.

But then again, maybe he was just trying to trick her. Or, at least, that's what the Magus in her wants to believe. The sister in her is saying that his intentions are true, that he truly wants to help her. With a bored sigh, she pushes her plate away from herself and stands.

"Mistress Illyasviel? Is something the matter?" Sella questions.

Illya turns towards Sella and Leysritt, muttering "I'm going to my room. Don't bother me."

With a huff, she spins around, and storms out of the dining room, considering her future options.

* * *

She ran beside the lake during the dream. She had to hurry-to find a replacement for her brother's broken sword. He had broken it during a tournament, and she had volunteered to find a replacement. Unbothered by the uneven ground, she finds a sword, one stuck deep into stone. Undeterred, she reaches for it-and as her hand is about to touch it, a man appears before her.

"Hello, young one," he said. "I'm here to ask that you consider things thoroughly before you pull the sword."

"Afterall," he continued, "When you take hold of the sword, you will no longer be human."

The girl narrows her eyes, unsure of what to do. In the end, however, she pulled the sword from the stone, releasing an intense light around the area. She understood what it meant instantly-she was the true king of Britain.

Indeed, she truly is the king. The foggy world begins to slip away as all the knights in the realm swear fealty to her, as all the knights in the realm bow to the newly crowned King of Knights.

* * *

Blinking rapidly, Shirou awakens in his room, the light from the sun piercing windows and the all-too-thin walls of his house. He shoves his blankets aside, and puts on a fresh set of clothes. He wanders the house, looking for Saber. He finds her in the dojo, elegantly sitting on the floor, soaking in the morning sun.

She opens her eyes and greets him. "Ah, good morning Shirou."

"Good morning Saber," he replies. "What are you doing in here?"

"I am resting. I find this room to be quite peaceful."

Shirou just nods, and wanders over to a rack holding the wooden training swords for the dojo. He picks two up and inspects them, before turning towards Saber, holding one of the swords towards her.

"Hey, do you want to go for a quick spar?" he asks.

Saber stands, and takes the sword. "That would be most agreeable, Shirou."

The sounds coming from the Emiya house soon are only made of the clashing of wood, grunts of pain, and desperate attacks.

* * *

In reality, this boy shouldn't even be here. While he was an extraordinary Magus, a prodigy of a Magus, this boy is not one that uses common sense, provided that he even has a drop of it. This is most likely why Caster likes this Master.

Her Master, to sum it up, is a fool. Doesn't understand the point of strategy and planning, can't look to history to even see how famous battles ended. He believes that the Holy Grail War can be ended peacefully, through befriending other Servants, or playing chess against them of all things.

Not that he's tried, mind you. He might actually win a battle that way, if he's lucky. Really, really, really lucky.

A flash of light blonde hair and blue eyes announces the presence of Caster's Master as he proudly strides forth from his bedroom in the hotel, dressed in his usual white shirt, gray vest, and those ugly black pants that stop at least ten centimeters above his ankles. This imbecile of a boy's name is Flat Escardos, and Caster only really likes him as a Master because he gives her all the Prana she could ever need, and he's so easy to manipulate.

"I'm going to go explore the city some more!" the boy loudly proclaims as he runs outside, straight down the hall, a jacket in one hand, his wallet in the other.

Caster just rolls her eyes as she lazily walks over to the balcony and dissolves, transferring into Mana for easy transportation. She reconstructs at the stairway leading to the entrance of the Ryuudou Temple. She wanders up to the top, each step taking her closer to the area she had set up as her 'primary Workshop,' as opposed to the lower quality one she built to fool her Master.

Turning her ordinary clothes into her actual robes, she produces her staff, and examines her various 'toys.' Sending a horde of familiars to scour the city, she looks through their eyes at what's happening in the City of Fuyuki. After an hour of waiting, watching, looking, she finds an ideal area.

This is when, she starts to collect.

Once more, she creates a 'special' Bounded Field around an office building, and she uses the people inside for mana. Of course, she's not evil. Or, at least, she doesn't consider herself to be. Which is why she doesn't drain the people of mana until they die. She's only going to make them pass out, and continue on with the 'gas leaks' occurring in the area.

This is a process which takes hours to complete. By the time she finishes, it's already late evening. She disassembles the Bounded Field around the office building, just on time to see the Master which she identifies as Rin Tohsaka and the Servant Archer scout the building.

Sighing, Caster sends out some dragon fang warriors to distract the enemy magus. They would be easily put down by the girl or her Servant. If anything, they were meant to delay the girl so Caster could escape from the temple. Any halfway competent Magus would be able to track her, and Caster knew that this Master was more than halfway competent.

With a surge of Mana, Caster disappears from Ryuudou Temple, her black robes spinning into shadows and tiny violet particles as the Servant vanishes into the night.

* * *

She leans on the guardrail, looking towards the street. The wailing of sirens fills the air as ambulances wait for paramedics to load unconscious civilians into the back of the ambulance. Police officers stand outside, their own cars parked nearby, as they investigate the building.

Despite the fact that the police were investigating the building across the street from her, Rin wasn't worrying. She had set up measures to prevent normal people from looking towards her. She turns around, the wind pushing her hair and the snow on the ground with a gentle breeze.

"The flow is towards Ryuudou Temple?" Archer questions.

He was sitting on an air conditioning unit a couple meters from her. He leans back, and looks to the sky, watching the stars apathetically. Rin crosses the roof and looks past where the city lights end, towards where Ryuudou Temple sat kilometers away from her. She loosens the orange scarf she has tied around her neck, and pulls back on her crimson coat, which, while it is her favourite coat, she found tends to ride up on the neck a little.

"Yeah, the stolen mana, or, more accurately, life force is all flowing towards the mountains. The culprit probably is Caster- this does seem like something a Caster would do, from what I've read," she answers, the wind continuing to pull at her hair and coat.

"There's a witch inhabiting Ryuudou Temple? Good grief," Archer sighs, his own cloak flapping in the wind.

"And why is that, Archer?"

"If Caster has spread such a wide net, then she likely saw the battle last night," he responds, before continuing to speak. "We tipped our hand, and failed to defeat either of our enemies."

Rin looks at him. "Perhaps." She spins in place, stopping when she's facing towards the staircase down from the roof. "For now, we'll track Caster. You can still sense her, right? We'll stop her before she can destroy her workshop in Ryuudou Temple."

She stops when she's almost reached the door as Archer asks her a question. "And what of the Emiya boy? Will we involve him in this?"

She pauses, thinking back to what she saw in the other building, with the unconscious men and women, drained of their life energy, their eyes rolled back, and skin clammy. If Shirou discovered who did that, he would hunt them down and put a stop to it.

She remembered how he threatened Shinji. While he was her best friend, and she trusted him with her life, she sometimes worried about Shirou. While the boy had no aspirations to be a hero or anything ridiculous like that, she still found that he had a deep hatred for when innocents got harmed by Magi.

The Magus in her immediately scoffs at the idea, prompting that part of her to immediately start saying that Kiritsugu was no Magus. However, the part of her that was Shirou's best friend kicks her Magus side to the curb, yelling at her to stay down, as she yells about how her friend's father is a good man.

She looks at the sky, towards the lights twinkling in the distance. She sighs, then continues on her way to the staircase. She opens the door to downstairs, then, looking at Archer, answers him with "I'm still not sure about that." She turns, and descends the stairs, her voice echoing to the rooftop as Archer stands. "Come on Archer," she says. "We're going home."

In a way, when Archer first said that he couldn't remember his past, he was being truthful. He could remember who he was, and how he became who he was, but just not as clearly as he could remember before his death. An eternity as one of the Beasts of Alayla will do that to a man.

However, he was now convinced that this Shirou Emiya was not the one he once was. While the events were similar, but too different from what he remembers to be the same. Of course, there's still the chance that the boy could become him, but he was starting to believe that it would be unlikely.

The being known to his peers as the Heroic Spirit EMIYA sighs, and follows his Master down the building, back to her home on the other side of town, his plans for the future in tatters, but having started to be reassembled.

* * *

Lancer stares at the woman standing in the street. Magenta hair, a black suit with one sleeve pinned up to close the sleeve due to the woman missing her right arm below the elbow, and a mole under her left eye that he'd recognise instantly.

"Can't say that I'm surprised," he mutters, twirling his spear in his hand. "She always was a stubborn one."

Yes, his former Master, an Association Enforcer named Bazett Fraga McRemitz, was still alive and patrolling the streets. Lancer looks up, sighing. In a way, he wished that she had just died, because now he might be ordered to kill her. On the other hand, he was overjoyed by her survival. Maybe she can kill his current Master, that bastard Kotomine.

Shaking his head, he stands up, and walks away from her, intent on getting away before Kotomine checks back in and demands he explain what he's doing, and why he hasn't killed his former Master. He jumps from building to building, never noticing his fellow Heroic Spirit watching him, empty, dark brown eyes following Lancer's every move.

After all, Avenger had only narrowly been able to save his Master in the first place, and he didn't want to risk Kotomine finding her before it was time for Kotomine's end. For now, he would prepare. The night was still young, all things considered.

* * *

WISE UP!

SERVANT AVENGER

ID: ?

Alias: ?

Master: Bazett Fraga McRemitz

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Stats:

Strength: E+

Endurance: D

Agility: C

Magical Power: C+

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: ?

**Class Skills:**

Presence Concealment B

**Personal Skills:**

Subversive Activities: A

Magecraft: C

Eye of the Mind (True): B

Riding: B

**Noble Phantasms:** ?


End file.
